1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of earth boring bits and more particularly to rotating bits incorporating diamond cutting elements.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of diamonds in drilling products is well known. More recently synthetic diamonds both single crystal diamonds (SCD) and polycrystalline diamonds (PCD) have become commercially available from various sources and have been used in such products, with recognized advantages. For example, natural diamond bits effect drilling with a plowing action in comparison to crushing in the case of a roller cone bit, whereas synthetic diamonds tend to cut by a shearing action. In the case of rock formations, for example, it is believed that less energy is required to fail the rock in shear than in compression.
More recently, a variety of synthetic diamond products has become available commercially some of which are available as polycrystalline products. Crystalline diamonds preferentially fractures on (111), (110) and (100) planes whereas PCD tends to be isotropic and exhibits this same cleavage but on a microscale and therefore resists catastrophic large scale cleavage failure. The result is a retained sharpness which appears to resist polishing and aids in cutting. Such products are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,913,280; 3,745,623; 3,816,085; 4,104,344 and 4,224,380.
In general, the PCD products are fabricated from synthetic and/or appropriately sized natural diamond crystals under heat and pressure and in the presence of a solvent/catalyst to form the polycrystalline structure. In one form of product, the polycrystalline structures includes sintering aid material distributed essentially in the interstices where adjacent crystals have not bonded together.
In another form, as described for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,745,623; 3,816,085; 3,913,280; 4,104,223 and 4,224,380 the resulting diamond sintered product is porous, porosity being achieved by dissolving out the nondiamond material or at least a portion thereof, as disclosed for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,745,623; 4,104,344 and 4,224,380. For convenience, such a material may be described as a porous PCD, as referenced in U.S. Pat. No. 4,224,380.
Polycrystalline diamonds have been used in drilling products either as individual compact elements or as relatively thin PCD tables supported on a cemented tungsten carbide (WC) support backings. In one form, the PCD compact is supported on a cylindrical slug about 13.3 mm in diameter and about 3 mm long, with a PCD table of about 0.5 to 0.6 mm in cross section on the face of the cutter. In another version, a stud cutter, the PCD table also is supported by a cylindrical substrate of tungsten carbide of about 3 mm by 13.3 mm in diameter by 26 mm in overall length. These cylindrical PCD table faced cutters have been used in drilling products intended to be used in soft to medium-hard formations.
Individual PCD elements of various geometrical shapes have been used as substitutes for natural diamonds in certain applications on drilling products. However, certain problems arose with PCD elements used as individual pieces of a given carat size or weight. In general, natural diamond, available in a wide variety of shapes and grades, was placed in predefined locations in a mold, and production of the tool was completed by various conventional techniques. The result is the formation of a metal carbide matrix which holds the diamond in place, this matrix sometimes being referred to as a crown, the latter attached to a steel blank by a metallurgical and mechanical bond formed during the process of forming the metal matrix. Natural diamond is sufficiently thermally stable to withstand the heating process in metal matrix formation.
In this procedure above described, the natural diamond could be either surface-set in a predetermined orientation, or impregnated, i.e., diamond is distributed throughout the matix in grit or fine particle form.
Because of the difficulty of securely setting and retaining polycrystalline diamond elements on the face of a rotating bit, all prior art designs have assumed a fixed tooth design which is then distributed across the bit face to maximize cutting efficiency given the bit profile and tooth design chosen. Therefore, a limitation on the performance of the rotating bit has been those limitations which are inherent to the tooth design in the diamond cutting element included within the tooth, which were chosen. The prior art approach has been to manipulate all other design variables to maximize cutting efficiency with the given tooth. This has meant that if the tooth design is characterized by a large bite, which is inherently adapted to cutting soft to medium-hard rock formations and since the teeth by their nature are immobile and fixed on the bit face, the best that can be expected is that the overall bit design will be maximized to cut soft and medium-hard rock formations. Similarly, when the tooth design and diamond element within the tooth were particularly adapted to cutting hard or abrasive rock formations, the best that could be hoped for was to provide a tooth configuration and bit profile which would maximize overall bit design for cutting in hard and abrasive rock formations.
Therefore, what is needed is a design wherein fixed and immobile diamond cutting elements on a rotating bit can be exploited so that the bit is adaptable for cutting all types of rock formations and is not limited by the inherent cutting efficiencies of the type of tooth design used on the bit.